Neighbours Darren Mellor and Andy Harris pulled a 63-year-old woman and the man, 55, from the blaze on Brooklands Close around 6am on Wednesday morning.

Consecutive wins over Crewe Alexandra and bitter rivals Rochdale in ‘El Flatcapico’ helped Oldham end a three-game losing streak and revive hopes of a late push for the play-offs.

Oldham’s Kyle Eastmond has a huge international advantage when it comes to his World Cup prospects and that’s his club relationship at Bath with England’s player of the Six Nations Jonathan Joseph, according to midfield rival Manu Tuilagi.

Oldham moved up to 11th in a tightly-packed League One, just four points from the play off places, after a 3-0 win over Rochdale on Tuesday.

Oldham come into Tuesday’s north Manchester derby on the back of their first win in four matches while Rochdale are within three points of the play-offs with two games in hand over sixth-placed Peterborough.

Conor Wilkinson’s low drive after linking with Danny Philliskirk after 74 minutes proved to be the game’s only goal, helping Oldham end a three-match losing streak.

Crewe have lost five of their last six and, just two points off the relegation zone, are mired in a battle for their League One survival as Oldham seek to pull clear of the lower part of the table.

Chancellor George Osborne unveiled the coalition’s final budget earlier this week which included raised income tax allowances however, not everyone was pleased with Mr Osborne’s ‘roof fixing’.

Goals from Dean Bowditch, Daniel Powell, and Ben Reeves gave MK Dons a winning lead before Rhys Turner’s late strike offered scant consolation for a poor Oldham on Tuesday.

The belief that most Mancunians are completely oblivious to the city’s devolution Agreement has been backed up from a further survey by the Greater Manchester Referendum Campaign.

Former Oldham Athletic manager Lee Johnson came back to haunt his old side as Barnsley brushed aside the 10-man Latics 3-1.